Apparatus for maneuvering ships and aircraft



E. S. G. REES.

APPARATUS Fon MANEUVERING SHIPS AND AIRCRAFT. APPLICATION FILED NOV- 2,1 920.

6 SHEETS-SHEET I,

Wing,

E. S. G. REES.

APPARATUS FOR MANEUVERINGSHIPS AND AIRCRAFT. APPLlCATlON FILED NOV. 2.1920.

Patnted Mayf), 1922. N 6 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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APPARATUS FOR MANEUVERING SHIPS AND AIRCRAFT.

APPLICATION FILED NOV-2. i920 Patented May 9, 1922.

6 SHEETS-"SHEET 3.

E. S. G. REES.

APPARATUS FOR MANEUVERING SHIPS AND AIRCRAFT.

APPLICATION FILED NOV- 2. 1920. 41 705 1 Patented May 9, 1922.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

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APPLICATION FILED NOV. 2. 1920.

Patented May 9, 1922.

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APPARATUS FOR MANEUVERING SHIPS AND AIRCRAFT.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 2. 1920 1,415,705. PatentedMay 9, 1922.

6 SHEETSSHEET 6.

EDMUND soo'rr ou'sTAvE Runs; on WOLVERHAMPTON, ENGLAND.

APPARATUS FOR MAN E'UVERING SHIPS AND AIRCRAFT.

i Specification of Letters Patent.

l fatented May 9, 1922- Application filed November 2, 1920. Serial No.421,363.

To all whom it may conccm:

Be it known that I, lfinlne'zvn Soor'r AVE Runs, a subject of theKing ofGreat Britairn residing in Vl olwrhanipton England, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for"llllaneuver ingShips and Aircraft, of. which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus for maneuvering ships, aircraft andother craft driven by screw propellers wherein the fluid stream set inrearward motion by the propeller is confined within a fixed duct or tubewhich is open at each end andthe direction of flow of the streamwithinthefixed tube and its issue therefrom is controlled by means ofpivoted van-es or pallets at the rear end of the tube. Such amaneuvering apparatus enables the propeller to be driven continuously inone direction and the speed and direction oi movement of the craft to bevaried as required solely by manipulation of the maneuvering apparatus.

The present invention seeks to increase the efficiency of suchmaneuvering apparatus by improvements in the construction. of: thepivoted pallets and the means for op erating them and of the fixed ductwith which they co-operate. In this improved construction the pallets,which are mounted on parallel posts the axes of which prefer ably liebetween the longitudinal axis of the duct and the walls of the same, areformed with abutting tips on their rear edges shaped to remain incontact over a considerable angular range of movement when the palletsare swung together. in the same sense with closed rearward edges forsternward maneuvering. Also, the forward portions of the pallets are soshaped and dimensioned that, while in the. iiull speed ahead positionthey close on the outer surface of the walls of the fixed duct or tubeof which they then form a continuation, in all other positions they formin conjunction with the said walls :iorwardly directed nozzles orchannels through which the water banked up in the tail end of the tubeby the closure of the pallets ejected or deflected. Thepallets areoperated by gear with an interposed yielding clutch or spring permittingthe continued movement of the operating wheel or its equivalent and ofone of the pallets afterthe'other pallet is arrested in its limitingposition against the wall of the fixed duct.

The fixed duct is preferably given such a rearward expansion as may benecessary for its etlicien't action as an augmenter while at the sametime"facilitating the fitting and operation of the pivoted vanes orpallets by making the sternward portion of the duct (it square or oblongcross section while the front portion is of circular section mergingeither directly into the square part or into an intermediate part ofoblong section which in turn merges into an oblong sternward POI'illOIl.

These other features of the invention will be more particularlydescribed with reiterence to theaccompanying drawings where in Fig. l isa central longitudinal section of the stern of a ship fitted withaugmenter tube and maneuvering pallets constructed and operating inaccordance with the invention; Fig. 2 is a part sectional and part planview of same 011 line 2-Q of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a transverse section ofthe augrnen'ter tube on line 3-'3 ofl ig. 1 but with the pallets in foreand aft positions; Figs. 4: and 5 hori zontal longitudinal sections ofthe tube and pallets showing thelatter in the positions forgoing asternto port and to starboard respectively; Fig. ("l is a longitudinalelevation of a'modilied constructioh of augmenter tube shown inassociation with an air propeller; Fig. 7 and .7 are plan views of sameshowing the pallets in alternative positions; Fig. 8 is an endelevation; Fig. 9 is a sectional plan showing the tail end of a fixedmaneuvering tube and modified construction of apparatus embodying theinvention, with both pellets in position :tor full speed ahead; Fig. 10is a halt plan showing a pellet in position for full speed astern; Fig.11 a similar view showingthe pallet hard over for going to starooard;and Fig. 12is a diagrammatic side view o l the rear end ol? the tube. o

It will be understood that when the invention is applied to aircraft themaneuveu ing tubes maybe arranged with the axes oi the maneuveringpallets horizontal instead of vertical as shown, while in the case ofsubmarines theywould be so arranged when the zipper 'atus is used toeffect submersion or emersion of the vessel.

' Referring first to Figs.,1-5, the augmenter tube awhich is rigidlyfixed below the counter of the vessel in substantially axial alignmentwith thepropeller b has a forward or entranceportion of circular crosssection 0t a dimension just suflicient to encircle the propeller bladeswith only a small clearance. This merges into a sternward or tailportion which is square in cross section, the top and bottom plates ofwhich are rigid with the remainder of the tube and furnish pivot postsfor the pallets d, e which, in the open position shown in dotted linesin Fig. 2, constitute the rear portions of the side walls of the square.External to the plane of each side wall and rigid with the tube are twoforwardly directed nozzles or ducts j, which may be regarded as beingobtained by off-setting a vertical strip on each side of the squareportion of the tube so as to increase the width thereof locally. Whenthe rear edges of the pallets all, care closed in the central positionshown in full lines in Fig. 2 their forward edges are closely adjacentto the rear edges of the ofl'set strips forming the nozzles f, so thatthe flume from the propeller is then deflected to either side andforwardly by the pallets and is discharged from the augmenter tubethrough the nozzles f forwardly parallel with the axis of the tube andthe centre line of the ship, or substantially so. The area of thenozzles is designed to give the fullest possible conversion of thepotential energy of the water within the augmenter tube into speedenergy.

The pivots of the pallets are carried by inwardly projecting brackets d,e which bring the pivot axes considerably inside the planes of the sidewalls of the augmenter tube. There are certain advantages resulting fromthis disposition of the pivot axes as compared with pivots in the planesof the pallets which will be referred to later.

The steering or maneuvering pillars g by which the pallets d, e aremanipulated are carried up through the counter of the ship and have armsg rigidly attached to them and sector arms 72, connected with themthrough yielding clutch members h of such character that when the twosector arms are turned continuously in the same sense by the operatinggear, the gear can be continued to be turned in that direction aftereither of the pallets has reached its limiting position. Suppose, forexample, that the pallet d is in the position shown in full lines inFig. 2 and the pallet e in the position shown in dotted lines and thatthe two pallets are swung together by the operation of the steeringgearapplied through the sector arms it until pallet 03 is in theposition shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 and pallet e in the positionshown in full lines. Pallet (Z can move no farther in the same directionbut its sector arm b can, since the clutch h slips compressing itsholding spring h, and consequently the operating gear can be continnedto be turned in the same direction and With it the pallet 6 even whenpallet d has been arrested by the wall of the tube a. The pallets areurged towards the open or dotted line position by means oi a tensionspring 9 which is connected by suitable flexible connections with theends of the arms g.

The rear edges of the pallets are curved outwardly so as to remain incontact with each other over a considerable period of angular movementwhen they are swung in the closed position either to port or tostarboard, and to assist in the relative sliding movement involved insuch motion the inner curved surface of the tips of the pallets may becontinued in the form of webs vi adapted to continue in engagement withthe inner face of the opposing pallet throughout the range of theswinging movement of the pallets, or substantially so.

The sector arms in by means of which the pallets are operated, areactuated by means of drums j, each having its own steering wheel j andflexible cords 7a which wind around the respective drums and are ledaround suitable guides and connected with the inner ends of the sectorarms. The drums j are normally coupled by means of a clutch which may beof the ordinary dog type so that both pallets are actuated siinultaneously by rotation of either steeringwheel 9', but the drums can bedeclutched one from the other against the action of a return spring byoutward axial movement of one of them, in which case the two steeringwheels are separately usable for turning the pallets in eitherdirection. Thus, the extent of the separation of the rear tips of thepallets which is required is effected by the separate operation of oneor both of the steering wheels, and any subsequent joint movement of thepallets in the same sense for steering purposes is effected by thesteering wheels in their clutched position.

Referring now to Figs. 6-8, apart ruin the fact that the construction inthesefig ures is shown in association with an air propeller b in rear ofwhich within the augmenter tube a there may be provided a stream linebody Z of such dimensions and shape as will give any required rate ofexpansion of the passage inside the augmenter tube, the principaldifferences between this construction and that already described(()]lsist in the steering pillars and the Pnlltds d, e lying in theplanes of the pallets them- I L selves, which necessitates the webs '1'which continue the curve of the inward surfaces of the rear tips of thepallets, being of considerably greater depth in order to maintaincontact between the web and its opposing pallet over any considerablerange of lateral swing of the pallets, and in the transition from thecircular entrance of the augmenter tube a to the oblong rear portionthere is interposed between the two an intermediate elliptical section.Further. the rizircular frontportion itself expands slightly from frontto rear of its length.

For constructional reasons the rectangular portion of the augmenter tubeor the rearward. part of it carryingthe maneuvering; pallets isconveniently made separate from the remainder or forward portion of theau 'menter tube, and in certain cases of propulsion this forward portionmay be omitted entirely and only the tail portion of the tube carryin' rthe maneuvering pallets fitted immedlate y in rear or just embracing thepropeller. The pallets may have their pivot axes either in the planes ofthe side walls of the fixed tube or duct or these axes may approximateto the axis of the duct or even be coincident therewith while the fixedside wall of the duct may be constituted solely by the forward nozzlesor offset portions of the side Walls. In thelatter case when the rearedges of the pallets are closed in the central or astern position andtheir forwar'd edges are contiguous with the rear edges of the offsetstrips, the pallets in conjunction with the fixed side walls act simplyas deflectors of the propeller Hume and not as nozzles or converters ofener 1n the modified construction shown in Figs. 9-12, m represents theside walls of a square or oblong fixed tube which may be immediately inrear of a driving propeller or may be the tail section of an augmentertube hereinbefore described. The pallets a are carried by brackets aswinging on vertical pivots 0' and may be regarded as compris ing twoparts, viz: the main or body part a to which the brackets are attachedand which in the open position (Fig. 9) of the pallets formcontinuations of the side walls at, and forwardly projecting portions 79which overlap the side walls m and are bulged outwardly as shown, savefor the tip portions zl which lie flat against the walls of the tube.

he extent of overlap of the pallets and. tube is such that even when apallet is hard over (Fig. 11.) the forward tip 7; of the pallet projectsbeyond the line of the wall m and no part of the deflected stream ofwater is divided forwardly inside the tube.

It will be seen that pallets having their forward ends constructed asherein shown form in conjunction with the rear ends of the walls atproperly constituted discharge nozzles with converging inlets anddiverging outlets for all positions of the pallets approximating to thatshown in Fig. 10. The construction of these nozzles and their divergingoutlets may be determined entirely by the formation of the pallet tips7) or in part by shaped vertical strips m on the outer rear edges of thewalls m, which also serve as reinforcements.

The concave surfaces of the pallets may be reinforced by webs asindicated at g, gf

iorinerfl integrally with or riveted to the pallets. and the outerhollow of the body portion a between the forward hulgirur portion 7 andthe outwardly curved rear tips may be filled in with wood or otherwiseencased to reduce shin friction. and prevent the lbrrnation of whirlsand eddies in the full speed ahead position.

Fig. 112 shows the tail part of an au o mcnter tube the sid wall m ofwhich terminates on the line A which corresponds with. the rear edge ofthe end wall indicated at A. in Fig. 9. Similarly the dotted lines E, Crepresent respectively the lines of the angle lar corner or heel of thepallet tip p and of the front edge of the pallet which are indicated bycorresponding reference characters in Fig. 9. The line D is the corneror angle resulting from the merging of the forward circular orelliptical portion or of the augmenter tube into the rectangular tailportion.

It will be understood that many modifies tions may be made in theconstruction illustrated without exceeding the scope of the invention asherein described and claimed, as for example the position ofthe pivotsboth laterally and fore and aft with respect to the fixed tube. Theymay, for example, be coincident on the centre line of the tube. or theymay be in the planes of the side walls or in any intermediate position.

Having; thus described the nature of the said invention and the bestmeans I know of carrying the same into practical effect. l clain 1. Inships and, other propeller driven craft, in association with thepropeller an augmenter tube of circular section at its forward. end andof rectangular section and greater area at its rear end.

2. In ships and other propeller driven. craft. in association with thepropeller an augmenter tube or circular section at its forward end andoblon r section at rear end connected by an intermediate portion ofsubstantially oval or elliptical section.

3. An augmenter tube as claimed in claim :2 having its tlomvard circularportion in creasing in cros. section from front to rear.

4:. In ships and other propeller driven craft, a fixed tubular ductassociated with a driving propeller, rudder pallets pivotally mountedupon. the duct and having; their rear edges shaped to remain in contactover a considerable angular range of movement when swung together to oneside or the other in the same sense.

5. In ships and other propeller driven craft,' fixed tubular duct, adriving propeller associated with said duct, rudder plates pivotallymounted upon the duct on separate axes inside the planes of said plates,said plates having their rear edges shaped to remain in contact over aconsid' aircraft comprising a fixed tube extending: rearwardly oi thepropeller, pallets pivotwl to said tube for controlling the discharge offluid streams from the tube, the forward portions of the pallets beingshaped to form in conjunction. with the walls of the fixed tubeforwardly directed nozzles or discharge passages for all positions ofthe pallets approximating that of full speed astcrn.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

EDMUND SCOTT GUSTAVE REES.

